Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

July Bloom Day~~A Few Flowers That Make Me Smile!


Please join me and gardeners from all over the known blogging world, as we share the blooms that make us smile and keep us working out there in the heat and humidity every chance we get. Carol, of May Dreams Gardens, hosts Bloom Day on the fifteen of each month...Now, head over there to find links to hundreds of posts that will leave you smiling!

Here are a few my blooming flowers~~ I hope they make you smile.
If you have the time, any photo can be enlarged with a click!
gail

Summer Phlox/Fall phlox, another, practically perfect phlox (n) ~~Phlox paniculata spp

The Susans with a friend~~ Rudbeckia hirta spp
Joe Pye Weed ~~ Eupatorium purpureum spp with The Susans and other friends

Lantana is a well behaved, native friendly exotic.
Look at how nicely it plays with Liatris spicata,
(enlarge to see the bee)


Candylily x Pardancanda norrisii 'Dazzler'
Can you tell that Blackberry Lily is a parent?
The seed head berries up, too.

Zinnia elegans~~ I think zinnias are dazzling and so do the bees and skippers!

This little bug likes them, too.
Aster frikartii 'Mönch' not a native, but it's very friendly to bees and butterflies
Worth a second look! I am completely charmed that it's blooming now!

Stoke's Aster~~ Stokesia laevis 'Peachie's Pick'
A non flopping, stand up straight, look good for a long time perennial.
Evergreen rosettes in my Zone 7 garden.



There's more, but let me save a few for another time. Have a delicious day and remember~~
The Earth Laughs in Flowers
- Ralph Waldo Emerson-

Have fun out there!
Gail Candylily's spent blooms twist into unusual shapes.

60 comments:

  1. They are all very nice, but you led off with my favorite, the Echinacea. Everytime I pass them in my garden, I have to caress the cones. Happy GBBD!

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  2. Just lovely, Gail. Doesn't it seem early for the Joe Pye? Love the Monck too, well all of them of course. Happy bloom Day!
    Frances

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  3. You truly are the Phlox Queen! What a grand bloom that has been blooming for quite a while now. I have Blackberry Lilies and think they are pretty neat- but haven't seen the Candylily (except in the catalogues) Dazzler is a great color!! Your picture of the twist at the end is pretty cool!

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  4. I love that twisting Candylily. I've seen Stokesia in catalogs but didn't know if it was worth having... maybe it's time to consider it!

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  5. It was this time last year that I started wanting a Joe Pye Weed having seen it on so many American blogs. I still havent got one!

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  6. Those cone flowers are right perky looking very happy as are the other blooms in your garden. It is fun to see the butterflies and bugs too. Happy GBBD.

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  7. Okay I love them all, but the candy lily has got to be my favorite!! I love those gradient sorbet colors and the twisting flowers! I would not have guessed it was so closely related the blackberry lily!

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  8. Lzyjo, This is my first season with this beauty...I hope it's as happy here as Blackberry Lily. gail

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  9. I love the Joe Pye weed. There is some in the pasture behind my house. I must collect some seed for my garden.
    Donna

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  10. What a treat to see blooms, bees & butterflies! They do make me smile. So do your funky Coneflowers with their upsweeping petals. I'm so used to mine with the traditional shuttlecock shape. I grew Aster frikarii 'Monch' at my old garden and just loved it. For some reason, it failed here. I'm glad you can grow it so I can see photos of it.

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  11. Beautiful blooms Gail! Candylily's spent blooms are very cool!

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  12. I will have to stop falling in love with plants. Or will have to start falling *out* of love with the ones I have to make room for... well, you know what I mean. I had and loved 'Monch' and it didn't make it because it had no room to breathe. But that's the story of life and death in my Microgarden. Thanks for sharing more lust-afterable plants; Candylily, particularly.

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  13. Jamie and I just learned about Candy Lilies yesterday! What a coincidence! I love all your beautiful blooms!

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  14. That Candylily is really neat! I like the colors and the twisting bloom is definitely cool to see. Our PPPP isn't blooming right now, maybe for the next bloom day!

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  15. Love how you get photos with the bugs and butterflies. And that last shot is great with the twisted dead flower. Happy GBBD!

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  16. I love skippers and Skip was pretty cooperative considering he likes to skip so much. I almost always find his cousins on zinnias and coneflowers....nice landing pads! gail

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  17. A beautiful collection of flowers Gail. That Candy Lily is something else! I love those twisted spent flowers.

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  18. Your PPPP is such a great plant. It really gives alot of bang for the buck at C & L each summer. That Candy Lily is interesting too, I can see the relation to the Blackberry Lily indeed. Mine does the same twisting of the spent blooms too but without that nice candycane effect. Very nice! Happy Bloom Day Gail!

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  19. What a beautiful collection of Phlox. We have a lot of Swallowtails here and they are so lovely. With all of your flowers, your Swallowtail will be back!

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  20. They make me smile too Gail. They are so pretty. And fun! That candy lily spent bloom is way cool!

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  21. I love the colors in the lantana. The aster is gorgeous too! I don't have any aster but really must get some for late summer/fall color. -Jackie

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  22. Wonderful, Gail! Your Candylily reminds me that I have my yoga class tonight!

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  23. How in the world can these not make even the grumpiest grump not smile?

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  24. Lovely stuff, and I particularly like the asters. Sort of can't wait for mine to bloom, but also don't want them to because here that means summer is *over*.

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  25. Hi Gail, love the candy lily, how cute. I just got a boltonia, Jim Crocket that looks very like your blue aster. When I visited my local garden centers, they didn't have many asters to choose from.

    I'm filling in a new bed, that's why I'm getting new plants. Is your Joe Pye the tall one. Couldn't find it locally so I settled for Chocolate and a dwarf called Phantom.
    Marnie

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  26. I am hopelessly smitten with Lantana and would have beds full of it if I had the space. Gorgeous! It definitely makes me smile...then again, I always smile when I come to your garden. :)

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  27. The spent candylily looks like a candy cane--how appropriate!! I love the asters too!

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  28. Lovely flowers. Clearly the bees and butterflies think so too.

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  29. I am completely besotted by your candy lily!!! I DEFINITELY need to add some of those pretty bloomers for next year... gorgeous. :)

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  30. Hey, put that milkweed's seeds on your "Remind Kim to send me..." list, and I'll include some! You won't even have to worry about watering it--I literally NEVER water mine. (It might be taller if I did, though, it tops out at about 2ft for me here.) Colleen from In the Garden Online shared these seeds with me a few years ago, and they were ridiculously easy to start via winter sowing. :)

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  31. I'm loving the candylily too and I'm not that familiar with it. Is it grown from a bulb? Great shots as always. It looks like you have lots of summer color in your garden.

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  32. Dear Gail....I am smiling from ear to ear...beautiful blooms with lovely visitors....
    and I can see why you work in your lovely garden in the heat and humidity......
    Enjoy the rest of the summer......it is passing much too quickly..

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  33. I've been doing a lot of smiling in the garden lately, too, Gail, especially every time I see a coneflower. You can tell that all the winged creatures love your garden, and it's no wonder. I'm trying to add more natives myself to encourage them. But I do love that Candylily, and the last photo clinched it! Enjoy your blooms, Gail!

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  34. Your coneflower actually looks like it's smiling! The candylily is nice too. I'm jealous of all your butterflies. :-)

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  35. Phillip and Kim, Isn't the candylily something! It would be lovely in both your gardens...I will save seeds and certainly ought to have some for sharing!

    gail

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  36. Gail, Was there a breeze at Clay and Limestone today? The Purple Coneflowers were waving! ;-) Great photos.
    I used the Milk Jug "greenhouses" with my Blackberry Lily seeds this past Winter. It worked perfectly!

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  37. Shady, We are under severe storm watch now and the coneflowers were waving hello to all! gail

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  38. A totally lovely post, as usual! And, a great reflection on how nice the flowers in your garden are.
    Lisa

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  39. Happy bloom day Gail! I love all the pictures with visitors. The folks at the wildscaping website used to say "every picture looks better with a bird or a butterfly in it". Bees qualify as well, I'm sure.

    thanks for sharing!

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  40. Great flowers! We have such different things blooming in the garden, but it's nice that at least two plants, the echinacea and lantana, are flowering in both places. I guess that points out how adaptable both plants are.

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  41. So pretty! I just love the asters and zinnias.

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  42. Those coneflowers are dancing! I'll bet all your flowers do that at Clay and Limestone :) You have my favorite Lantana, and such sweet little friends. Is that a skipper on the Lantana?
    The Candylily color combo is truly lovely, and that spent bloom is amazing.
    What's not to like about colorful zinnias? Gorgeous!
    Love those asters too. Such a pretty color.
    Your garden is a delightful place!
    Happy Bloom Day, Gail!

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  43. Wow -everything looks fab. Thank you for introducing me to Candylily - she's very sweet! And I love the lantana, asters and coneflowers, too.

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  44. Your welcome, JGH and thank you to all who have commented....I so appreciate you taking the time to visit and comment. gail

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  45. I've been itching to pop over for a visit, dear Gail, knowing you always have a treaure chest of goodies to share. Crazy 'bout your Candylily and, as always, your photos are a delight! Time spent with children is the best ... delighted you had such a special visit with your son. Summer is grand!

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  46. Hi Gail. Love your prairie blooms. I don't have Candy Lily, but I do have her parent through the courtesy of a good friends. Happy Bloom Day.~~Dee

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  47. Beautiful blossoms! Looks like the winged creatures love them, too. Love the picture of the pink zinnia and the tiny black bug. Cute! ~~Rhonda

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  48. Gail, your flowers make me smile too. I love the photo of the lantana and the liatris-pretty combination! And Zinnias...each one is a delightful sight. The Canylily is gorgeous, but even more so the spent bloom. :)

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  49. The echinacea photo is splendid, possibly the best I've seen of this flower, because it gets its personality across so well.

    Love the little species phlox, and 'Dazzler' is quite stunning in all its guises. Also loved the species rudbeckia, I have childhood memories of it and love it, but have only found seed of hybridized/selected varieties, don't know where to get the wildlings.

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  50. Wonderful pictures, Gail! I'm smiling too. My favorite garden in quote "Earth laughs in flowers" :)

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  51. A lovely collection as usual, Gail. But, one odd thing, my Asters don't even start thinking of opening itno flowers until late September!

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  52. Camellia, Monck is one of those asters that blooms on and off; my plan is to dead head to see if that's true!
    Gail

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  53. I love the Candy Lily. Mine made the move from the old house in good shape. And, it's one thing the deer haven't touched. Thanks for sharing.~~Linda...

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  54. Beautiful flowers, I specially like the asters, they are difficult to grow in my zone 10b area

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  55. Gail -- There are so many pretty things in your garden this bloom day -- and you have lots of little bug friends, too. Glad the butterflies are back. Mine are all over the Lantana, too. That candylily twist looks like an old-fashioned hard candy stick, doesn't it? And I love your Aster frikartii 'Mönch' -- it's so spiky and perky! (Like you :-)
    Happy GBBD.

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  56. Hi Gail, plenty of lovely flowers, as usual! The last phot made me smile - and the quote accompanies it so well!
    Katarina

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  57. Bright colors always make me smile. I hadn't heard of candylily, but I love both its in-bloom and spent flowers! :)

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  58. Joe Pye Weed, a favorite of mine and I know the Monarchs love it, too. Just this morning at the greenhouse a woman asked me if I knew anything about the Blackberry Lily. I'd never heard of them before and now you have a lovely photo of one posted here. And you saved the best for last, the Candylily's spent bloom. How interesting. I was in Franklin, TN on Tuesday visiting a friend. TN is such a pretty state.

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  59. I enjoyed your lovely July blooms Gail especially the phlox. What an attractive colour. Your asters are well ahead of ours on this side of the pond :)

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  60. Candy Lily is an apt name, as it reminds me of licorice! All your pics and all your blooms are really lovely :)
    Plant Lady

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson